Ice Hawks fight hard at state

After a crazy season full of wins and losses, home victories and road struggles, the Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team had the end goal of making some noise at the 2020 MAHA High School Varsity State Championships at the Haynes Pavilion and Ressler Motors Ice Rink in Bozeman.

At the tournament last weekend, Havre head coach Barry Brownlee and the Ice Hawks finished the season with a sixth-place finish after beating the Copper City (Butte) Kings 5-3.

Havre may not have taken home any hardware, but the Ice Hawks fought a tough battle all last weekend.

Havre did suffer two rough losses before the game against Butte, though. The Ice Hawks fell to the Flathead Fusion 5-2 and the Billings Bulls 8-1 in the first legs of the tournament. But at the final moments of the tournament, Havre was glad to end the season of ups and downs with the win over the Kings.

As for the entire tournament, the Bulls claimed this year’s crown after beating the Fusion in the finals. Meanwhile, the Bozeman Ice Dawgs finished in third place and the Missoula Bruins took fourth place. Needless to say, the Ice Hawks started off their tournament with some tough teams, but in the end stayed strong to end the season on a relatively good note.

Out of the eight teams that competed in the state tourney, Havre may have been on the lower half of the standings, but the Ice Hawks have been known to fight hard all throughout the season, proving they have not given up so easily at the end of the day.

Now, Havre will see four stellar seniors move from the program. Dexter Beck, Donovan McLain, Rhoda Peterson and Bridger Staples have all been key leadership figures this year for the Ice Hawks. The four have put in a lot of work to help their team do their best on the ice. At the same time, the entire Havre squad has shared some great moments throughout the season.

Overall, the sixth-place finish at state may not have been the end goal the Ice Hawks wanted, but Havre has proved that it has a lot of heart, camaraderie and grit to help them go up against the best of the best. There is no doubt that the Ice Hawks will be back to compete even harder next year and the returning players on the team will look to bring some tough competition on the ice next season.

The hockey season in Havre is almost at an end, with the Bantam State Tournament set for the Havre Ice Dome this weekend, the Ice Hawks will be preparing for the next year, with many looking forward to seeing Havre back on the ice and ready to play in the Havre Ice Dome. Keep an eye out for the Ice Hawks as they take the ice next winter.